Page 12 - WCA September Ketch Pen 2020

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Letter From Director Sandison
By Derek Sandison, Washington State Department of Agriculture Director
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has created disruptions and challenges for all sectors of society and industry. Agriculture is no exception. As they always have in times of crisis, farmers and ranchers have faced up to these difficulties and worked through them to provide the food we all depend upon.
One of the initial struggles the livestock industry faced in the current crisis was maintaining operations at our state’s meat processing facilities. In some cas-
es, workers became sick with COVID-19, reducing throughput and eventually prompting temporary shut- downs. Necessary measures implemented to control the spread of the virus and protect workers have also resulted in ongoing production slowdowns.
The result has been a backlog in meat processing. This backlog has raised food security concerns among consumers. It has also created economic hardship for feedlots and livestock owners forced to carry the costs of holding and caring for cattle while they wait to move their animals along for processing.
That’s why, in late July, WSDA submitted a request for $7.5 million in federal assistance through the CARES Act to provide grants and technical assistance to scale-up meat processors in our state, with the aim of improving infrastructure, boosting access to skilled labor, and ramping up their processing capacity. We also hope this request will relieve some pressure on our producers and help them avoid the kind of depopula- tion problems recently experienced by Midwest pro- ducers. I am currently awaiting word on whether our proposal will be accepted.
To fill gaps in federal programs and funding, WSDA also intends to submit a “Farm and Food System Recovery” funding proposal. This broader request would ask the legislature to fund grants and technical assistance actions called for in the Food Policy Fo- rum’s consensus recommendations to address ongoing COVID-19 challenges and keep workers healthy, help
producers develop new business models, market strategies and distribution networks, improve ag viability and natural resource outcomes, and keep food supply chains moving.
The pandemic has
also affected other
parts of the livestock
community. Livestock auctions, county and communi- ty fairs and other 4-H and FFA events were interrupt- ed, suspended, or cancelled. In early August, Gov. Jay Inslee released guidance to help many of these events resume, provided they comply with local county public health guidance. There’s a long road ahead, but that’s one small step towards returning to some of our cher- ished agriculture activities.
I know that many 4-H and FFA participants quickly adapted, and some ended up showing and marketing their animals virtually. Like all farmers and ranchers, these young people understand the need to “find a way” through adversity. I applaud them for their grit.
Another effort that continues to evolve, unrelated to the pandemic, is the use of Radio Frequency Identifi- cation (RFID) tags as the official form of identification for interstate movement of cattle that need to be iden- tified under federal animal disease traceability regu- lations. Recently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Services (USDA-APHIS), requested public comment on its latest proposal and timeline. The proposal would make RFID tags the only option for use in cattle and bison requiring official identification, beginning on January 1, 2023. APHIS would “grandfather in” animals that have official metal tags already in place.
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Derek Sandison
Ketch Pen www.washingtoncattlemen.org
September 2020